Acrophobia
by PrancingTiger86
Summary: Chap 4: After everything that has been said and done, can there truly be forgiveness and a way forward without regret? Original summary inside.
1. Acrophobia

**Title**: Acrophophia

**Rating**: T for Profanities

**Universe**: Pre Movie 07

**Pairings**: Prowl x Jazz

**Characters**: Prowl, Jazz, Ratchet, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Mentions of Skyfire, Blackout and Omega Supreme

**Summary**: Prowl discovers something that he never knew about a certain saboteur until now.

**Disclaimer**: Transformers belongs to its associated appropriates and not me.

A little something I stumbled upon whilst reading Jazz's profile on Wikipedia. And I blame this fic on my younger sister who suggested I should write it. Hope you enjoy this little fic.

Vorns - year

Clicks - mile

* * * * * * * * * *

"No slaggin' way am I climbin' that." The exclamation from Jazz completely startled Prowl, the tactician turned to face his lover not quite understanding why the saboteur was refusing to scale the last object in their way to freedom. The pair of them had been separated from the main group during a skirmish with the Decepticons and now with no way to contact the others since their comm. links had been damaged in a concussive blast delivered to them by Blackout, the pair were having to make their own way back to the Autobot encampment several clicks from their position.

"Jazz its the only route we can take back to the encampment several clicks from us." Prowl replied, he watched as the saboteur anxiously glanced at the several hundred meters of rock that stood between them and safety. He had already checked his GPS several times already and any other route would simply take them too far out and possibly deliver them into Decepticon hands and that was something he would not allow. He had already calculated the many possibilities that they could be ambushed by seekers on their climb upwards or them falling and either severely injuring themselves or worse terminating themselves.

The silver mech glanced at him "Surely there's gotta be another way round?"

"I've checked several times, this appears to be the only direct route." The tactician responded. He frowned at the saboteur as he had never known Jazz to stall like this before let alone show fear "Jazz?"

"It's nothin'." The saboteur mumbled as he tried not to look at the wall of rock.

Prowl folded his arms across his chest and settled a stern gaze on his lover, every astro-second they spent standing here debating whether to climb to safety or take an alternative route round allowed Decepticon scouts the possibilities of locating and ambushing them not to mention giving their team the opportunity to move on without them "Jazz what has you so apprehensive all of a sudden?"

"I don't like heights." The silver mech murmured more to himself as he wrapped his arms about himself and took a step away from the wall.

Prowl stared at him dumbfounded, his arms dropped to his sides as he considered the little fact that had just left his companion's lip components. It had never been an issue until now and Prowl couldn't for the spark of him understand where this fear had come from, as in the thousands of vorns he had known Jazz he had never played witnessed to the saboteur not liking heights. In fact he had never seen Jazz show an open display of disliking them but being special ops that he was, the silver mech had been trained to mask his emotions during missions and in the event that he was captured by the enemy. He for one was having trouble comprehending that a top class saboteur and assassin who wasn't afraid to go up against mechanoids three times bigger than him or head into the heart of Decepticon territory where he was likely to get captured, tortured and killed; hated heights.

"You've never mentioned this before?" The black and white asked.

"It's never come up before." Jazz responded as he glanced at the black and white mech and saw the confused frown that was currently marring his lover's usually calm and collected facial plates "can we not go around?"

Prowl vented a sigh through his intakes feeling as though he was about to talk to a dim witted youngling "Jazz as I have told you repeatedly that there is no way around and with our energy levels and injuries being the way that they are, this is the quickest route possible." The saboteur looked dejected and glanced up at the wall that stood in their way. It looked too treacherous and the height? The height of it was enough to churn his fuel tanks and make him light headed, he glanced in the tactician's direction when he felt a gentle touch on his elbow joint and the black and white mech smiled at him reassuringly "I'll be with you every step of the way I promise." He guided the silver mech closer to the wall, he felt Jazz's frame begin to tremble and wandered whether he was making the right decision but decided to stand firm by the choice he made as 1: it was really the quickest way to the Autobot's presumed camp several clicks from them and 2: allow Jazz to get over his fear of heights.

"Alright fine." The saboteur said somewhat shakily "but you owe me big time for this."

"For which I'm sure you'll make me pay up the moment we get back to Iacon." Prowl replied with a smile.

"You bet your aft I will." Jazz said appearing somewhat braver about the situation in front of them but Prowl knew even with the silver mech's visor down, that it was all a façade "so up then?"

"Up." The tactician replied as he dug his fingers into his first crevice and glanced at the saboteur, he could see his lover fighting himself internally and knew he would have to give him the first push. The black and white mech let go of the wall and stepped behind his silver counterpart who was just staring at the rock face, he pressed himself against the warm plating of the saboteur's back whilst making sure not to apply too much pressure to the numerous dings and dents in the usual pristine silver of Jazz's armoured plating. Prowl then trailed the tips of his fingers down the saboteur's arms and gently grasped his wrists, he snagged Jazz's clawed fingers into a couple of holds a little higher up from his head then traced his fingers back down until they were sitting upon hip armour. The tactician could feel the silver mech's frame trembling and smiled before dipping his head and pressed his right cheek against the special ops agent's left audio delighting in the way a breathy gasp escaped his lover's lip components, he knew that if they weren't in such a dire situation that they would interface the slag out of each other until either their own comrades or the Decepticons found them. But for now he was giving Jazz something else to concentrate on other than the impending climb in front of them.

"You can do this." He murmured next to the saboteur's audio and instantly he felt his lover's frame relax against his, Jazz dipped his head in acknowledgement but it quickly dissolved into a moan of protest when Prowl stepped away and made his way back to the wall, he caught the saboteur's dimly lit gaze and smirked before hauling himself upwards on the wall as if challenging the silver mech to catch him. The tactician was somewhat surprised when he heard the grating of metal against rock and glanced down to see Jazz shakily pull himself upwards, he waited until the special ops officer was level with him before starting his climb a new.

Every now and again Prowl heard his lover curse whenever his armour scraped against the rock face or when one of his feet slipped out of the footholds he had managed to locate which was exactly what he heard for the 596th time followed by a panicked wheeze, the tactician halted in his progress and glanced down. He felt his fingers clench the handholds, his entire frame go rigid and his fuel tanks gave a slight churn when a wave of vertigo hit him, they were already 2/3 of the way up and Prowl refused to be beaten.

"I slaggin' can't do this." Jazz said loud enough to be heard over the wind that had suddenly picked up which automatically had the black and white on alert but thankfully neither his functioning sensors or predictive programming detected the presence of a Decepticon.

"Yes you can, we're almost there." Prowl replied as he slowly and carefully made his way down and across to the saboteur whose optics were focused upon the ground beneath him "Jazz look at me." There was a slight hesitation before a blue visor focused upon him, Prowl could tell Jazz was absolutely terrified in that single moment and briefly cursed his stubbornness for not allowing them to bond so he could reassure and comfort his lover without the use of words. But as logic dictated that it wouldn't be the smartest of moves to make in the height of war especially with the high percentage of either one of them being captured or worse killed. The tactician let go with one hand and gently gripped the silver mech's left shoulder in a reassuring squeeze "ready to try again?" Jazz nodded and shakily reached for a crack in the rock above him to start his climb anew, Prowl waited a couple of astro-seconds before starting his own climb upwards. He was glad for the small miracle Primus had granted them that there were no Decepticons in their vicinity as they were wide open to attack however he did not want to rush Jazz either in case one false move proved to be fatal. Suddenly the tactician discovered there were no more discernible hand or foot holds in front of him and the only ones he could see were where Jazz was climbing. He remained where he was and allowed the silver mech to bypass him.

The saboteur glanced at him as he passed "Ya know ya can take a break when we reach the top right?"

"I know but I thought I'd be a gentlemech and let you go first." Prowl responded with a small smirk pulling at his lip components, Jazz stared at him wandering if the black and white mech was hiding anything but knew from many past experiences that the military strategist wouldn't say anything until he was ready to drop into stasis lock. He scrutinised his lover for a few astro-seconds before pulling himself upwards again with trembling and aching arms, he couldn't wait to get over the top of the rock face so he could put this experience behind him. The saboteur had never been too fond of heights even when he was a sparkling although he probably had his older brother Ricochet to thank for that, the front line warrior had once told the little silver mech what would happen to his frame is he fell from a certain height at a particular velocity in gruesome detail. And Jazz as adventurous and undeterred by almost anything could never look at heights the same again especially if they were any taller than Skyfire (Omega Supreme just intimidated him because he was so small).

The special ops officer breathed a sigh of relief through his vents when he saw the lip of the rock face and quickened his pace however he quickly discovered when he reached the top that he couldn't get a grip on anything to pull himself up and over, he cursed loudly as his claws dug furrows into the hard rock and he quickly kicked up a fuss about it, vocally and physically. He whined for the seventh time only to hear Prowl chuckle at his expense.

"I'm glad ya find this funny." Jazz snapped at him as he doubled his efforts to get over the lip kicking up dirt and dust and several more dents in his armoured plating as he did so. He heard a groan of effort beside him and stopped in his struggles to watch the tactician pull himself over the edge and shakily get to hi own tow feet before turning his attention to the special operations officer "uh Prowl any time ya feel like handin' a servo." The black and white mech shook his head in amusement at the ridiculous but dangerous position his lover had managed to get himself into before crouching down and grasping the saboteur's upper arms and pulling despite aching muscle cables in his arms and shoulders and a couple of injuries that protested the strenuous movements. With a couple of harsh tugs, Jazz came up and over the top of the cliff and the pair of them collapsed upon the hard, dry and dusty ground. Both of them were panting in order to assist the cooling of their systems, neither of them were concerned with the position they had landed in either although Prowl's sensory panels were beginning to voice their opinion about being crushed beneath the bulk of two mechs. The saboteur pushed himself up onto his elbows and glanced down at his lover meeting his gaze before his attention shifted slightly when he felt the tactician rest his hands upon the small of his back.

"You have got to be slaggin' me, we come all this way to locate you only to find the pair of you fraggin' each other." Came a vehement protest that sounded like Sunstreaker, both mechs on the ground whipped their heads round in the direction they heard his voice to find both twins, Ironhide and Ratchet. The aforementioned three had their arms folded across their chests with a single optic ridge raised whilst the CMO simply scowled disapprovingly at them. Prowl gently pushed Jazz backwards and the silver mech took it as his cue to get up, the saboteur offered to help the tactician up which inevitably took him towards the edge of the cliff. He let out a rather indignant shriek before clinging to Prowl like an anxious youngling would do to its creator, both Ratchet and Ironhide shared a look between them whilst Sideswipe cursed lowly and his twin curled his hands into fists as he aimed a heated glare at the red front-liner.

Prowl turned to the set of twins when he saw their expressions "I believe you both owe me a cycle of good behaviour." Jazz pulled away from his lover slightly and glanced at him curiously wandering exactly what the tactician had bet on and subsequently won.

"You're a fraggin' idiot you know that." Sunstreaker scolded his twin "I kept on tellin' you that Prowl would get Jazz up a slaggin' rock face."

"Wait! What?" The saboteur demanded as he glanced over at the twins before snapping his gaze round to glare at his lover "you mean to tell me that you." He poked Prowl none too gently in the chest plates "purposely took the wrong turnin' so you could get me to climb a fraggin' rock face?!" The normally calm and collected special ops officer stepped away from the military strategist.

"Jazz it was essential that we attempt to get rid of this fear of heights that you had with the high probability that it could hamper your future performance." The black and white mech tried to explain to his rather upset companion.

"I was doin' fine so far without havin' to do somethin' as suicidally reckless as that!" The saboteur snapped as he clenched his hands into fists and his entire posture went rigid.

"Jazz . . . ." Prowl began.

The saboteur pointed an accusatory digit in the tactician's direction "No I ain't slaggin' talkin' ta ya, in fact as far as I'm concerned ya can go an' frag yaself!" And with that he stormed off growling to himself. The twins, Ironhide and Ratchet watched him go before glancing at Prowl whose sensory panels drooped so they were almost resting flat against his back.

"I suggest you go after him." Ratchet suggested as he critically scanned the black and white for any serious damage.

Prowl settled his gaze upon the medic "I think it'll be best if I gave him some time to cool off."

"Ya sure?" Ironhide asked sincerely, he had been ready to make a snarky comment but soon thought differently when he saw how much this little altercation with the silver mech had affected the tactician, part of him wanted to shake Prowl to make him come to his senses and chase after his lover to make amends even if it did break out into a scuffle. But a voice at the back of his CPU told him not to get involved and he was inclined to agree.

"The thing with Jazz is that he does not stay angry for long and tends to forgive easily." Prowl responded as he sighed deeply before a loud clap of thunder rumbled overhead and the wind picked up once again "we should head back before the storm moves in." The others nodded in agreement and took off, Prowl took one last look back at the lip of the rock face cursing his stupidity and hoping he could make amends with Jazz before finally moving out.

* * * * * * * * * *

Yes the whole bit between Ricochet and Jazz is an experience of mine where one of my older siblings told me in graphic detail what would happen to the human body if it smashed into the ground but it hasn't deterred me from scaling up into high places. And originally I had intended for a sappy ending but I though bugger to it and complicate things for my favourite pairing, makes life more interesting.

Anyway Read & Review


	2. Holding Grudges

**Title**: Holding Grudges (2/4)

**Rating**: T

**Universe**: Pre Movie 07

**Warnings**: profanities and angst

**Summary**: After the altercation with Jazz regarding the saboteur's phobia of heights, Prowl makes it his goal in order to seek forgiveness for his actions no matter how long it takes.

**A/N: **Okay I only intended this to be a two shot would you believe it but no the plot bunnies decided differently and therefore there will be two more chapters after this one and then maybe I can concentrate on Renascentia (probably more so when i have my own friggin laptop and it bloody works). Anyway I want to thank Hot Rod's Girl, Mirage ShinKiro and tristan2007 for reviewing this fic and of those who have read and favourited it as well.

Orn - day

Joor - hour

vorn - year

_:/Blah\: - bond communication_

_**"Blah" - Comm. link**_

* * * * * * * * * *

It had been one of those orns, Prowl came to realise, that he wished that he could take back and start over all over again. The battle with the Decepticons had been inevitable and unavoidable but his behaviour towards Jazz that orn had been inexcusable and shameful, and now not only did it make their working relationship awkward but their physical one as well. The tactician knew without a doubt that what had been between them was now finished unless he managed to come up with some way to apologise to the saboteur. He knew he should have paid close attention to Jazz and maybe he would have noticed the silver mech's dislike for heights, he mentally kicked himself when he suddenly realised why Jazz never ventured out onto the observation deck at Autobot headquarters in Iacon or always had the transport shuttles set down rather than grapple out of their holds to the ground.

In a fit of anger, Prowl threw the data-pad he had been holding at the wall opposite him, the screen shorted out before splintering into tiny slithers of broken glass. All the signs regarding Jazz's phobia of heights were clearly there in front of him all this time yet he had choosen to ignore them. And the bet with the twins? He should never had made it in the first place even if it meant that he would have to forfeit a cycle of peace and quiet so he could catch up with the rest of his work load and spend a little extra time quality time with the saboteur. The tactician contemplated, as he knelt down to pick up the pieces of the pad he had broken, that maybe Jazz had just blown it all out of proportion but quickly thought differently when he realised that if he had been in the silver mech's position, he would have probably done the same. Just not as spectacularly. Prowl knew from the way that Jazz had been behaving since they got to the outpost the other Autobots had holed up in, that his initial observation about the saboteur forgiving him in a cycle was going to be proved otherwise.

The military strategist sighed out of his intakes and scrubbed a hand over tired facial plates, he knew he wouldn't get any work done tonight with the path his thought processes were taking and decided that it would be best to go and get some recharge. He cringed at that thought as in order to conserve what energy they had until they could make the trip back to Iacon, every officer and soldier had been squeezed into a single room that had originally been a cargo bay. That meant Prowl would spend half the night listening to restless movements and heavy intakes of air. Also going down to the cargo bay meant facing Jazz and the rather overprotective members of his squad, the tactician was glad that Ricochet was on the other side of the planet with Ultra Magnus or he would have the front-line warrior to contend with. The front-line warrior never approved of Prowl courting his younger sibling in the first place. He remembered when Jazz had quite eloquently told Ricohet to go 'shove it up his exhaust port and swivel on it' before sauntering out of communications where the mostly black coloured mech had cornered the tactician.

The black and white mech frowned as he glanced out of the viewport to the weather raging outside, everything that he had experienced and felt with the saboteur would just be painful memories to him now like Barricade's defection to the Decepticons was. Prowl groaned inwardly as he pinched the bridge of his olfactory senses when he felt the familiar pain of processor ache and decided it would be best to go and get some recharge lest he want to bring Ratchet's wrath down upon himself. Prowl sub-spaced the broken remains of the data-pad and stepped out of the room he had retreated too before turning in the direction of the cargo bay. The tactician's sensory panels twitched when a particularly cold wind swept through the corridor and he quickened his pace, he genuinely felt sorry for those who had been relegated to patrol as he palmed the pad on the side of the doors.

The thick blast doors hissed open and a rush of warm air hit him and his frame relaxed, he stepped into the dimly lit room and closed the doors before someone yelled at him for allowing the warm air to escape. His optics scanned the sea of different coloured frames that were either in recharge or near about before his gaze fell upon the special ops squad huddled near one of the many small heat generators. Both Hound and Mirage were laying next to one another forgoing any privacy regarding their relationship, Bumblebee who was barely out of younglinghood was nestled against the silver chassis of the saboteur and using his left hip as a pillow instead of recharging with his guardian Ironhide. Prowl allowed his troubled gaze to travel up Jazz's body taking in every scuff and dent to his silver armour before his optics fell upon the silver mech's lax facial plates, Jazz truly looked at peace in recharge in comparison to the cold 'blooded' assassin he could become, and the tactician knew this would be his last chance to see that expression before they shipped out tomorrow and back to Iacon.

"Prowl?" A quiet voice to his left inquired, the black and white mech turned in that direction to see his oldest sibling Smokescreen approach him "are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Prowl replied although he knew all the red and blue painted mech had to do was look at his drooping sensory panels and know he was lying, the diversionary tactician followed his youngest brother's gaze to where the special ops team was huddled together on the floor. The twins had informed the majority of them that there had been an altercation between Prowl and Jazz but refused to elaborate on what happened. However Smokescreen had the sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the bet his youngest sibling had made with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker the other orn.

"Come on." The diversionary strategist said taking the black and white mech by the elbow and leading him to the recharge mats he had been lying on previously. He mentally cajolled his little brother into lying down on his side and getting some much needed recharge through the bond they shared as sibling's, before taking his own advice and dropping off to sleep. However Prowl despite being physically tired could not fall into recharge, his mind was a swirl with emotions that were normally so alien to him and probabilities and solutions to his current predicament with Jazz. He was suddenly drawn out of his thought processes when he felt a presence latch onto his consciousness.

_:/ You should be in recharge.\:_ Prowl told his older sibling.

_:/ And so should you.\:_ Smokescreen replied _:/am I gonna have to online and go and get Ratchet to give you something to help you recharge?\:_

The military strategist shifted on his side to make himself more comfortable if that were possible on the ultra thin recharge mats _:/ No I'll be fine.\:_

_:/ Hang in there Prowl.\:_ The diversionary tactician told him before retreating from his consciousness. The black and white mech sighed tiredly and let himself finally drop off into recharge, he would deal with Jazz tomorrow when he knew he would be thinking more clearly.

* * * * * * * * * *

Prowl knew that once they got back to Iacon that Jazz would disappear under the radar making it extremely difficult for the tactician to track him down and apologise to him. The saboteur's special ops mechs weren't being particularly helpful either whether they were feeding him false information in regards to the silver mech's whereabouts. That or they were locking him in his office giving Jazz the chance to escape from his duties and disappear into the bowels of the base. Red Alert had, had a fit of epic proportions when he found out that Jazz's unit were compromising the security of the base, he had ranted at Optimus demanding that they be given brig time and have some of their privileges revoked. Prime had agreed to it and had a long talk with his 3IC about keeping his mechs under control. But it didn't stop the determined little glitches and in the end Prowl was forced to change his duty schedule which only made it harder for him to catch Jazz.

However the tactician knew that he wasn't the only one receiving a cold shoulder from the saboteur, the twins who had been the main instigators for all this mess were also having a hard time tracking the silver mech down and apologising to him. However their chase ended pretty much after 2 cycles when Jazz made it quite clear that he wasn't talking to them right before he ended up in a fist fight with Sunstreaker. The pair of them had been sentenced to maintenance duty which only served to anger both mechs further especially when they were ordered to clear the sludge out of the energon storage tanks, of course the gold twin bitched about how the punishment was being unfair to his paint job only to be silenced by a faceful of sludge and a threat that if he didn't shut up, more than his paint would be ruined.

That had been a few orns ago and the twins and saboteur were still not on talking terms and Prowl still couldn't keep Jazz in one place long enough to apologise or explain his actions. Smokescreen had advised that maybe it would be best if he gave the silver mech room to 'breathe' and do some thinking of his own without being suffocated by the military strategist. Prowl had reluctantly agreed and had fallen back into his original routine which finally allowed Red Alert to relax and stop whinging in Optimus' audios about the special ops team being a liability.

But all in all, it didn't stop Prowl 'mourning' for what he had lost and unless he managed to get lucky enough to catch and trap the saboteur or Jazz came to him to tell him he was forgiven (although that seemed unlikely to happen), the relationship they had would be beyond salvagable. The tactician knew that their leader had picked up on the signs that all was not well with his second and third in commands from the moment they had made it to the outpost after being MIA. But he had refused to get involved in their disagreement. The only time he would step in was when the saboteur's stubborness hindered the base's operations and forced him to work alongside Prowl until the task was done, Prime had attempted to broach the subject with the pair of them only for the special ops officer to clam up and tell him they would sort it out between themselves. And it had been a few cycles since then and they still didn't have it sorted, in fact Prowl was nearing the point of simply giving up altogether.

The tactician rolled off his berth and staggered upright, he allowed the world to stop spinning before attempting the first few steps toward the doors of his sleeping quarters. The doors whooshed open allowing unfiltered sunlight to blind him, he gritted his denta when an all too familair pain of processor ache began to settle in-between his optics. He allowed his optics the chance to adjust to the light before they settled upon the back of a familiar helm belonging to someone currently occupying the small couch in his living space.

"We thought we might have to send out a search party when you didn't show up for your shift this morning." Smokescreen said as he hooked an arm over the back of the couch and glanced over in the direction his little brother was stood in, he cringed inwardly when he saw Prowl's appearance as the strategist's paint was dull, scuffed and dare he say it; dirty. The red and blue mech was more angry at Jazz for his brother's state then he was at the black and white, he decided that maybe it was time to have a few words with the saboteur without being disrespectful to a superior officer. That and bringing Ricochet's wrath down upon him once the front-liner returned to Iacon. He could tell by just looking at Prowl's posture that his little brother was simply exhausted and low on energy.

"Who covered?" Prowl inquired although deep down he was berating himself for staying up til the early joors of the morning to finish all of his reports.

"Jazz did." The diversionary tactician told him, he watched as Prowl's optic ridges rose upwards in surprise "oh not on his own volition, he opened his mouth when he shouldn't have done and now Optimus has him pulling a double." The black and white's sensory panels drooped so much they fell flat against his back; another thing for the saboteur to use as a grudge against him "Prime's about to chew him out with the way he keeps behaving."

"There will be a logical explanation for his behaviour." Prowl said as he stepped over to the view port and glanced out, his logic centre was already beginning to present theories to him until he recalled much of Jazz's behaviour; the silver mech despite holding a grudge against him, appeared to be silently grieving and the black and white wandered for a moment if something had happened to the saboteur's brother. The military strategist turned to face his older sibling "has there been any recent communication from Ultra Magnus' unit at all?"

"None, we're not sure whether they've entered a communications blackout or is Soundwave is near their last know co-ordinates and jamming their comm.'s. So Optimus has called a meeting which starts in the next 20 breems." Smokescreen replied which immediately had Prowl moving towards the doors "whoa hold up Prowl, wash rack, refuel then you can go to the briefing room, and don't give me that 'I'm your superior officer and therefore can't tell me what to do' scrap, I'm here on Optimus' orders."

The military strategist grumbled something under his breath before stepping in the direction of his wash rack whilst Smokescreen left to fetch him a ration of energon, Prowl didn't spend a great deal of time of scrubbing his plating clean as long as he looked refreshed and presentable he'd worry about sorting out the dings and scrapes to his armour at a later date. The military strategist stepped out of his wash rack and over to the computer terminal in the corner of the room and gathered the Intel. he needed to take to the meeting, his battle computer was already formulating plans should it turn out to be more than a simple search and rescue mission. Prowl heard someone input the code to his quarters but he didn't bother turning to face the intruder as he knew exactly who it was especially once a steaming mug of energon was shoved under his face plate. The black and white met his brother's gaze and took the ration handed to him.

"Right down that so we can get moving." Smokescreen told his younger brother, Prowl quickly downed the ration before being escorted out of his quarters and to the briefing room, he knew his sibling was shooting him barely concealed worried looks as this would be the first time in several cycles that he had seen the saboteur but Prowl refused to allow it to concern him after all he had a job to do in this meeting. The pair of them entered the briefing room where many of the other officers required for this meeting had gathered, Prowl found his gaze settling upon the silver mech sat on the opposite side of the large black polished table. He noticed that the other's armour was just as unkempt as his own which surprised him greatly as Jazz could just be as picky as Sunstreaker on some occassions. But it seemed that their separation was possibly affecting him mentally as well as physically, also the usual bright glowing blue optics were dim showing fatigue.

Prowl's gaze caught the look the spy gave him which seemed to be pleading with him to stop his leader from taking the plunge into madness. Not that Jazz would go insane but he did tend to forget where his limits were and if he continued upon the same path of self destruction, the same one Prowl had also unknowingly stepped onto. Then Ratchet would without a doubt force his hand and have the pair of them declared unfit for duty and confine them to either quarters or the med-bay. The black and white mech took his usual seat toward the head of the table and slouched back slightly, he knew this was partly his fault but it was the saboteur's stubbornness that was causing the rift to get wider between them not too mention the morale had seemed to plummet producing less than favourable outcomes. However there was nothing he could do until the silver mech changed his attitude toward him but he had a feeling that something big would have to happen for that to occur.

He glanced up when he heard the doors whoosh open to see Optimus step into the room, he noticed how Prime glanced toward where Jazz was sitting before meeting his gaze. The tiniest hint of a frown appeared upon his leader's face as he knew the situation had still not been resolved between them considering the saboteur gave him his word they would have things sorted by now. Prowl vented a soft sigh from his intakes as he glanced down at the couple of data-pads in front of him, he had a feeling that this was going to be a long meeting.

* * * * * * * * * *

Prowl mused, as he stuck his head out from behind the remnant of a building, that Primus was also holding a grudge against him these past few orns. The meeting had decided that the military tactician was to take a unit consisting of the special ops team minus Bumblebee, the twins, the Aerialbots and the protectobots. The trip had been somewhat awkward as the usually lively members of the Autobots were unnaturally quiet even the well know troublemakers had co-operated with one another instead of trading snide remarks with one another. Then the shuttle ride had turned eventful when Starscream and his seekers appeared, the Aerialbots and Blades were dispatched to distract them whilst the rest of them concentrated upon setting down the transport in one piece. Of course they were forced to abandon it when their sensors detected a group of Decepticons heading in their direction, luckily enough they had managed to draw them away from the transport and toward the dense region of the long destroyed city.

The black and white had more than once gritted his denta in frustration and anger when certain Autobots refused to follow his orders, the twins had blatantly ignored him so they could go torment Thrust and the other coneheads with their jet judo, which without a doubt would land them in the repair bay with some sort of injury. He didn't really expect anything less from the twins and as usual would have them for insubordination and give them brig time. But to have Jazz openly defy him simply because he saw a tactical advantage Prowl had obviously missed, nearly had the tactician abandon all logic and reasoning to finally chew the saboteur out for his behaviour whether it was the appropriate time to do it or not.

However he never got around to it as Ultra Magnus pinged his comm. link and gave him a set of co-ordinates to meet, he quickly analysed the situation before calling a retreat and silently thanked Primus that Jazz decided to obey. They swiftly made their way through the rubble strewn streets without having to worry about Megatron's elite since they they were currently being distracted by their own fliers and a pair of obnoxious twins. They met Ultra Magnus' team at the co-ordinates they had been given and joined them inside a battered building they had decided to hole up in for the time being. Prowl greeted Magnus but quickly followed his gaze to a certain saboteur who was currently making his way toward the wounded and sub-sequently the one off-lined frame positioned by the back wall.

"I was hoping Optimus wouldn't send Jazz out here." The large blue and white mech said as the pair of them watched as the silver mech dropped to his knees and peeled back the cloth that covered the deactivated frame of his brother.

"What happened?" The tactician inquired as he looked away from the rather emotional scene taking place. So he had been right, Jazz's behaviour had been influenced by an external source and he knew from experience what it was like to receive the conflicted messages that assaulted ones spark when someone very close to you died. Although Barricade was not dead he had put up an inpenetrable block that registered on the very same wavelength as if he had died.

"Bonecrusher happened." Springer replied as he stepped away from his team of Wreckers who left to help defend the perimeter "sneaky glitch took Ricochet by surprise and nailed him through the chest before we could reach him." It was a small comfort however morbid it seemed that the front-line warrior's death had been quick and not drawn out like some Decepticons preferred it to be, they all knew the satisfaction the 'cons revelled in when they allowed their prisoners to die a slow and agonizing death which thankfully Ricochet had been spared from. Prowl glanced back toward where Jazz was still knelt and could tell from the mech's posture that he was not taking his brother's death well, after all the large black mech was all he had left in the world after losing his creators when he was just barely into younglinghood. He was truly concerned for the mech he still loved with all his spark despite everything that had happened, he wished that he could go over and offer some sort of comfort. But knew that sort of thing wasn't going to happen not while there was still animosity between them.

"How many are wounded?" Prowl asked as he tore his gaze away from the silver mech and spotted Blurr trying to push away a medic so he could return to his sniping position.

"There are a few minor injuries but the Intel. we have regarding Megatron needs to be ferried back to Iacon ASAP." Ultra Magnus replied as he glanced over to where Arcee's prone form was being attended to by a medic.

"Understood." Prowl replied. As usual the military tactician's battle computer was already formulating a plan which he quickly relayed to the others on a tight communications bandwidth. It took next to no time to organise the units and have them move out in different directions with one goal in mind; reaching the transport vessel.

The tactician's unit moved as quickly as they could through the debris littered streets whilst keeping keen audios listening out for anything irregular whilst sharp optics watched the skies above them and scanned their surroundings closely. There were many directions in which the Decepticons could ambush them from and Prowl's battle computer pinpointed them all to him as his group continued forward, the black and white dropped back to the rear and just in the nick of time as the ground where he had just been was peppered with laser fire from above. His unit was already taking cover before he even had the chance to bark out his first order, Prowl scanned the skies critically before his sensory panels detected a slight vibration to his left which appeared to be coming from underground. He increased their sensitivity just as the rumbling started to escalate and rolled out of the way just as the ground he had been crouched upon, exploded. He caught the glint of silver as he rolled back onto his feet, in the air for a few astro-seconds before Scorponok burrowed his way into the ground making it even more treacherous for them. Immediately he was on the everyone's comm. alerting them to the new ground threat and ordering which actions to take as his battle computer processed each strategic move and outcome. He opened fire upon Skywarp as he teleported in, the shot clipped the seeker's wing and the black and purple flier swung fully about to take a shot at the tactician.

However this proved to be Skywarp's downfall as a shot nailed him in the underbelly, Prowl peered out from behind the building he had taken cover behind to see Jazz leap down from a crumpled wall albeit somewhat clumsily before making his way over to the tactician. The military strategist met his gaze for a moment before concentrating weapons fire upon Thundercracker who had swung in to provide cover fire for his retreating comrade.

**_"We need to retreat."_** The saboteur sent to him over a private comm. link _**"we're outnumbered an' outgunned."**_

Prowl said nothing in reply as he glanced round the battle field and knew in that instant that they were severely outnumbered and could not afford to be either captured or killed. He ordered those capable in getting the wounded to safety whilst he and the saboteur brought up the rear despite a few grumbles from the silver mech that Prowl was going to chide him for before he saw the laser burn upon Jazz's right thigh which was oozing energon. The black and white mentally kicked himself for putting the saboteur in further danger but pushed it to the back of his processor as he scrambled over debris and ducked in behind crumpled buildings with the silver mech not far behind him all the time.

"Blackout they're escaping!" Came the annoyingly high pitched voice of Starscream as he evaded one of the Aerialbots, Prowl snapped his gaze in the direction he suspected Blackout to be in when he saw the large behemoth drop from the sky and landed with an earth shattering sound. The tactician could hear Jazz curse vehemently at the large Decepticon's appearance as he clambered back onto his feet and all but turned to make a run for it, Prowl squeezed off a few shots hoping to slow Blackout down but to no avail as the large Con activated his own weapons system releasing a large concussive wave that sent the black and white and the saboteur sprawling to the ground.

The last thing Prowl felt and saw as consciousness was robbed from him was the ground trembling beneath him before splitting open and collapsing in on itself, and the Decepticns retreating from the scene, no doubt with the intention to return once the dust had settled to glean any information from his and Jazz's offline forms, before he went offline.

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**A/N** - I'll try and update as much as I can but having no laptop besides my sister's is a real pain in the aft. Also Jazz's behaviour in this chapter is from personal experience of people holding grudges against me or taking out their angst on me.

Read and Review!


	3. Trapped

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited and put this story on their alert list, you guys are awesome. I'm hoping to round this one up shortly so I can focus fully on Renascentia and getting that one completed. Sorry this took so long to get up, I'm hoping to have chapter 4 up as quick as I can. Hopefully. A long chapter a head, hope everyone enjoys.

**Warnings:** Angst, profanities, a little slash and maybe a smidging of gore.

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, I just toy with with them and hand them back in less than pristine condition.

**_"Blah" - comm. link_**

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The return to consciousness was slow at first as all his systems came back on-line in sequence. Like usual his audio and visual receptors were the last to reboot when he was forced into stasis lock or off-line. He discovered as his optical sensors returned to full operating capacity that he was in what looked like a cavern at first glance, but he quickly came to realise that it was an old bunker. The atmosphere was thick with smoke and dust which more than once threatened to clog his intakes as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Prowl felt as though he had gone a few rounds with the Decepticons heavy hitters as his entire frame ached, but what hurt the most, after looking over every dent and scrape his armour had acquired, was his left forearm that was mangled and coated in dried energon. He clutched the useless limb close to his chest and decided it would be best to push his injuries aside for now and take stock of the situation he was currently in, Prowl ran a few diagnostics upon his systems and found much to his disgruntlement that most of his communication systems were down. All except his short range which wasn't much use to him unless any of his comrades were close by.

The tactician continued to scan his surroundings noting the streams of light filtering through the small gaps of debris, it unfortunately told him one thing; he was not getting out of there on his own. Prowl could vaguely recall the events that had taken place topside, he remembered being ordered by Optimus to lead a team to locate Ultra Magnus' team and provide support should they need it. Prime also assigned Jazz to his team and the tactician could see the saboteur's want to disobey a direct order, but he had simply agreed and left. Of course that made it a quiet and awkward trip upon the transport, however it didn't last for long when Starscream and his trine attacked the small vessel. They had been forced to abandon the transport and locate Magnus' team on foot. He recalled quite clearly meeting up with the other unit before ordering the retreat. However everything after that seemed a blur to him. The tactician remembered snippets of the battle that had taken place, but as to how he ended up buried beneath rubble was a complete blank to him.

The black and white mech quickly extended his sensors outward to make sure there was no Decepticon signatures close by and was relieved that they detected none. However they did pick up an all too familiar Autobot signal but a few clicks from where he was sat which possibly meant Jazz was down here with him. It also meant that he could very well be buried under the mountain of debris he had been lucky enough to have escaped being crushed by. The military strategist picked himself up from the debris cluttered floor, hissing in pain when he jostled his injured arm before willing his trembling and aching legs to move. He slowly sifted through the debris making sure not to disturb pieces that were acting as support structures. Prowl had to stop every now and again when his equilibrium circuits decided to take a leave of absence on him then he would move on once he had regained his bearings.

Prowl kept his sensors entirely focused upon the saboteur's energy signature so he could pinpoint his exact location. He gritted his denta as he forced his left arm to co-operate with him as he moved slabs of concrete and twisted metal girders that had once been part of the structure. He choked on clouds of dust before continuing to push forward and finally his efforts were rewarded when he pulled away a twisted metal panel and was finally able to spot the saboteur through the debris. Prowl squeezed himself through the gap earning himself a few more scrapes and dents to his armoured plating not to mention a nasty nick to his right sensory panel. The black and white mech clambered over small pieces of debris and dropped to his knees rather ungracefully when his equilibrium circuits momentarily off-lined, he waited until they on-lined and orientated themselves before coming up alongside the unconscious silver mech. Most of the debris could easily be shifted and Prowl took stock of each of the injuries Jazz had acquired, his gaze fell upon the freed right leg and the nasty laser burn decorating his thigh ,which thankfully was no longer leaking energon. But that didn't stop his optic ridges from furrowing into a frown when he saw a mixture of blue and white pooled under the silver mech. He managed to free the special ops mech from as much of the debris as he could only for his azure gaze to fall upon a pole a few inches thick sticking out of the silver mech's side. The 2IC grimaced when he noticed that it was liberally coated in energon and coolant told him one thing; a main fuel line had either been nicked or severed and the tactician just hoped it wasn't the latter one.

The military strategist stepped over Jazz flattening his sensory panels to his back so he didn't scrape them on the underside of a large piece of concrete that originally had been the ceiling. He crouched beside the silver mech and gently slid one hand underneath the saboteur's back, Prowl was hoping that if the pole hadn't punctured all the way through that he might be able to pull the saboteur out from under the debris. But it seemed that Primus had definitely abandoned him this orn as the pole exited out through Jazz's left flank very close to his spinal struts and array, and pinned the silver mech to the concrete wall behind him. There was no way he would be able to move him now and decided that it would be best to try and patch up as much of the wound as possible; then see if he could bring Jazz around despite knowing that the saboteur would have a lecture for him the moment he on-lined. Prowl reached into his sub-space for the field kit he kept on him at all times, as one never knew when they might need it, and opened it. He removed two of the cleaning cloths he had stashed in there and wrapped them around the front of the pole before applying pressure to the puncture wound.

An agonised cry tore itself from Jazz's vocaliser and Prowl had no choice but to cover his mouth with his other hand to muffle his scream in case there were any Decepticons still lingering around. The saboteur's cry dissolved into small whimpers of pain, the tactician was about to apologise when suddenly Jazz found the energy in his weakened state to throw a punch that knocked the military strategist on his aft. Prowl gingerly touched his bottom lip component as he glanced at the silver mech with a mixture of hurt and surprise upon his facial plates.

"What th' slag do ya think ya were doin'?" The saboteur demanded grimacing as pain danced across the nerve receptors in his side.

"Treating your injury unless you fancy sitting there leaking out." Prowl snapped back at him, he was done with the niceties as all it earned him was nasty remarks or simply being ignored. And now to add to the list; a punch to the face which may have been more instinct than premeditated. The silver mech attempted to shoot a glare in Prowl's direction, but it dissolved into a grimace Jazz was trying to hold back. The tactician knew the saboteur's pain receptors had to be still on-line and couldn't fathom why the silver mech had not yet shut them down "you need to shut down all redundant systems and take those receptors off-line."

"Don't think I haven't already tried." The silver mech bit back angrily, he knew he was at risk of leaking out completely. But there wasn't much else he could do when the command sequence to shut down the damaged area refused to respond to him.

Prowl appeared thoughtful for a moment "Then there is only one way." Jazz watched as the tactician placed his index and middle fingers upon a section of armour covering his forearm. The little added pressure had a section unseal itself before sliding back and under the black plating, the saboteur simply stared as the black and white mech uncoiled one of his few data cables. Jazz knew exactly what Prowl had in mind, the tactician wanted to connect to his systems and attempt to get the shut down sequence to on-line; a feat, the saboteur knew, that only medics were capable of.

"No." The silver mech told him plainly.

Prowl frowned at the special ops officer "Jazz its the only way, if nothing is done you will leak out completely and go off-line. You have to trust me on this."

The saboteur snorted at that "Load of good it did me th' last time you asked me ta trust you." The tactician grimaced at that, he knew exactly what Jazz was referring to. The incident that had started this whole fiasco between them; where apparently he had betrayed the saboteur's trust. Prowl's argument had been that he was trying to help Jazz conquer his phobia of heights. But it proved to be the black and white mech's undoing especially when the saboteur heard it had all been for a bet, although what the silver mech didn't comprehend was that one; the tactician was only really trying to help. And two; free up some time so he could spend it with Jazz without the twins interference by causing trouble on the base.

"I realise now that you will not forgive me for that." Prowl said as he held the saboteur's gaze "but I will also not sit here and watch you pass away in front of me when I know I can do something to prevent it from happening." Jazz held his gaze for a moment longer before glancing off to the side. The warnings and error messages were beginning to pop into his processor more frequently. He knew something had to be done soon or his systems would without a doubt force him into stasis lock to protect his higher processor functions and spark. He attempted to send the shut down sequence again only to receive an error in response from his traitorous overrides, he knew he was being far too stubborn for his own wellbeing and could faintly hear Ricohet chiding him. But his brother was no longer among the living, a fact he knew all too well. The saboteur had been close to forgiving the twins and Prowl, although not fully, when he had felt a pain in his spark. Immediately he knew something was wrong but with no communication with Ultra Magnus' team left him frustrated and worried, he had lost himself in his grief leaving him unstable. The saboteur wondered whether he had done something recently to be punished with the recent events, to have the one mech he had trusted and loved, to casually play upon his phobia of heights as if it was nothing so he could win a bet.

Then to lose the only family he had left in the world was a blow he was still reeling from, his brother, despite his gruff attitude, had genuinely cared about his little brother whether he showed it through small words or gestures. Ricochet had reminded him so much of Sunstreaker minus the vainness and self worshipping. But now he was gone, felled by a single stab wound delivered by a Decepticon who had cowardly struck his brother from behind rather than facing him head on. Jazz realised then that if he died, who would avenge Ricochet's death? He knew he had two options; one, continue being stubborn which would result in his death. Or two, allow the tactician access to his systems and carry out whichever miracle he had planned so he could live to fight and die another day. The saboteur glanced at the black and white mech knowing that Prowl would be waiting for his response.

Jazz released a shaky sigh from his intakes "Fine." Prowl looked at him some what surprised as the tactician half expected to argue with the silver mech about how valuable he was to the Autobot cause. To him. The black and white mech nodded and moved as close as he possibly could to the saboteur, Jazz jerked slightly to one side when he felt Prowl's leg brush against his hip only to hiss in pain when the motion pulled upon his injury. The special ops mech felt his fuel tanks churn unpleasantly and took in deep gulps of air to try and ward off the nausea he was feeling. The tactician apologised and settled to wait for the brief spell to pass "I'm cool." The black and white mech waited a couple of moments more just to make sure then moved his right arm and settled it upon Jazz's left shoulder. The silver mech tilted his head sideways and forward slightly so Prowl could connect the data cable to the access point behind the long silver fin. There was a soft hiss as the connection was made and the tactician immediately detected the saboteur's firewalls were up and ready to fend him off.

"Jazz you need to drop your firewalls or I'm going to hurt you." Prowl said as he glanced at the saboteur waiting for a response, for a brief moment the tactician wondered whether the silver mech had lost consciousness when nothing continued to happen. The black and white mech was about to prompt again when the saboteur's firewalls finally dropped allowing Prowl access to his systems. Their connection was quick and flawless although Prowl could tell that Jazz's defenses were ready to block him should he tread anywhere he wasn't supposed to. The tactician felt himself barraged by the warnings and error messages that were no doubt appearing in the silver mech's HUD, he took note of Jazz's rapidly dropping energy levels that suggested in a quarter of a joor, he would slip into stasis lock. Knowing time was of the essence he pressed on hoping that he would be able to deliver the fail safe that would allow him access to the saboteur's overrides. For a brief moment he began to doubt himself over whether he would succeed or not.

**_:: Then why are you tryin'?::_** Prowl heard Jazz ask.

**_:: I swore to myself once that I would not allow any harm to come to you.::_** The tactician responded **_:: and I would rather try and save you rather than realise later that may be I could have done something to prevent it from happening.::_**

**_:: You never did know when ta give up.::_** He heard the saboteur say.

**_:: And I still don't.:: _**The black and white replied, there was a small perceptible chuckle before the silver mech went quiet. Prowl continued onwards bypassing several systems until he reached exactly what he was after. The tactician found the disarray the saboteur's command functions were in and fully understood why Jazz couldn't get the damaged area to shut down. The silver mech was receiving several crosswired signals that were in desperate need of reprogramming to set everything straight. The black and white mech delivered the fail safe that instantly gained him access to the saboteur's command fuctions, and started working on setting them right with Jazz's guidance.

Prowl found himself checking on what time he had half way through the reprogramming and found he was going to be cutting it fine. He attempted to speed up the process and with a three breem window left, the shut down sequence onlined and rerouted all vital fluids away from the area. Electrical signals going to torn nerve bundles ceased a few astro-seconds later, and last but not least the pain receptors went off-line giving Jazz the reprieve he needed. Now the 3IC could focus his attention and energy on his self repair system. The military strategist un-shuttered and on-lined his optics to meet the dimly lit gaze of the special ops mech, he disconnected the data cable from the silver mech's access point then shifted his arm from the other's shoulder. Prowl felt his spark flutter in its chamber when he saw a small smile christen Jazz's lip components, but the exhilaration that may be not all was lost between them disappeared when the debris above them shifted. The tactician on instinct extended his sensors outwards hoping for Autobot signals and not Decepticon, however he got neither. It suddenly dawned upon him that the support beam was finally giving way so it no longer had to hold up the tons of concrete above them.

"Don't suppose you have any cutting equipment?" The black and white mech inquired, he would be damned if he had managed to save Jazz one way only for him to be terminated another. The silver mech simply stared at him, thought processes slowed by the loss of energon and the rapid heating of his systems due to the lack of coolant in his lines "Jazz?" Prowl resisted the urge to shake the smaller mechanoid since he had managed to build a fragile understanding between him and the saboteur, and he did not want to lose it now that he had it back "Jazz?!"

"What? I slaggin' heard ya th' first time." The special ops officer snapped at him.

The tactician frowned at that but refrained from arguing with the silver mech "I asked if you had any cutting tools?" There was no verbal response but Jazz moved ever so slightly as he removed one of his portable kits from sub-space. Prowl quickly snagged it from him and opened it, he found exactly what he needed and powered up the high concentrated laser. Then with the same precision he used when firing his rifle, the tactician sliced through the metal pole and discarded the front part of it on the floor. However the next part was going to be exceptionally tricky as he needed to reach behind the saboteur and cut through the pole, he had considered pulling Jazz off it but he was worried that he might cause more harm than good to the silver mech's internals.

"Prowl just leave meh, I'm . . . I'm essentially a dead mech anyway." The saboteur told the tactician as he wrapped a clawed hand around the black and white's upper left arm.

"I'm going to ignore the fact that you just said that." Prowl replied with a tiny hint of anger in his voice, he didn't want to believe that the special ops mech had just suggested leaving him there to be crushed by tons on concrete and metal. He wanted him and the saboteur to live through this so they could sort out where they stood in terms of their relationship, even if Jazz decided to be just friends once again. Prowl reversed the hold the special ops officer had on him to pull Jazz forwards, just enough to clear a small space between the mech and the concrete slab behind him "don't move as I don't plan on explaining to Ratchet how you managed to gain a scorch mark on your aft." Jazz managed a small chuckle as he dug his claws into a seam on the tactician's shoulder when the pressure in his side grew almost unbearable. Prowl, although with some difficulty, managed to cut through the pole effectively freeing the saboteur. He discarded the cutting tool and gathered the silver mech to him before making the attempt to stand, Prowl prayed that his equilibrium circuits would not desert him. The tactician was granted the small reprieve as he all but dragged Jazz out of the rubble and across the room, he heard the distinct rumble of the debris shifting before the girder that had been holding it all up groaned under the weight then scraped against the concrete slab as it finally collapsed. Prowl tried to retreat as far as he possible could to the other side of the bunker, but instead settled for shielding Jazz's small frame with his own. Small pieces of concrete pinged off his armoured plating whilst thick dust billowed up from the floor.

Prowl 'coughed' several times to clear the dust from his intakes before glancing up and around, the debris that had been blocking their only possible escape route was now unblocked. But the climb looked treacherous and the tactician knew neither of them could afford to sustain any further injury. That and it could quite possibly open them up to an ambush from the Decepticons should they come back to locate them, whether to terminate them completely or capture them. With the latter on his processor, the black and white slid one of Jazz's arms across his shoulders before looping one around the silver mech's waist being mindful of the pole still wedged in the saboteur's side. Prowl guided his companion to the corner of the room where a wall of debris would shield them from prying optics, and set his precious load down against the cold metal plating of the wall.

The tactician stepped back and sat down upon the floor when he felt his equilibrium circuits leave him again, he tried to ignore the unpleasant churn his fuel tank gave before settling his gaze on Jazz. The saboteur had been unusually quiet which was just not like him, the silver mech could quite easily talk the audios off any mech or femme whether it was a simple conversation, to giving orders or on the minor occassion giving them an audio full. The black and white frowned in concern as he regarded the silver mech sat across from him until he realised he could barely hear any of Jazz's systems running, strained as they were. Prowl cursed violently under his breath at his brief lapse in memory when he remembered that the saboteur's energy levels were incredibly low, the tactician pushed himself up onto his feet and quickly closed the distance between himself and the special ops officer. But as fate would have it that orn, Prowl would not reach him in those few precious astro-seconds. The military strategist dropped to his knees and reached out to grab the silver mech as he slipped into stasis lock, the black and white gathered the limp form to him, still mentally berating himself for his stupidity in not noticing sooner. However his logic centre was quick to point out that it seemed illogical arguing with himself whilst Jazz was slowly slipping away in his arms, Prowl shook himself out of his reverie and accessed his sub-space for his spare repair kit.

The black and white mech rested the special ops officer in his lap as he opened the kit and searched through it for the transfusion kit. He knew his own energy levels were adequate to attempt a stunt like this, and with Jazz down and out for the count; it was the only solution. He found the sealed kit and tore open the flimsy plastic and set out the tubes and connectors on the spare part of his thigh. He connected each of the needle points to the long piece of tubing before stretching out his left arm. His optics searched his elbow joint fo the main energon line and quickly located it, Prowl curled up one edge of his lip components at the thought of having to insert the sharp point himself into the energon line. He took a deep breath of air into his intakes before inserting the sharp point into the line ignoring the sharp prick of pain that followed, almost immediately his own life fluid flowed into the tube and up to where the clamp was attached. The tactician gently tilted the saboteur's head back exposing the lines and tubes in his throat, Prowl gazed upon the delicate wires and cables that he had come intimately close with in the past before finally locating the singular thick tube that carried energon to the higher processor functions.

Prowl quickly and efficently inserted the other end of the tube into the exposed energon line before removing the clamp. He watched as his own life fluid flowed through the clear tube then accessed his diagnostics to keep a close watch upon his energon levels. The tactician decided he would allow them to fall to about 35% before disconnecting the transfusion. However he knew by allowing the levels to drop that far would mean he would have to sacrifice the function of his battle computer and logic circuits, but they were a sacrifice he was willing to make if it allowed Jazz to survive. Prowl glanced across to the wall of debris opposite him and clutched the saboteur close to him, pondering over their chances of actually surviving this ordeal. His logic circuits and battle computer unhelpfully gave him the odds before both fell off-line, which stated that Jazz would most definitely not survive especially if an infection set in.

The tactician stared off into space, something he would have considered an illogical thing to do if not a waste of energy, until his diagnostics informed him that his energy levels had fallen to the desired levels. Prowl could feel the effects as he reached to disengage the shunt from his arm, he was feeling exhausted if not a little light headed. He found that he had to shut down most of his redundant systems to keep energy fed to his vital components. The black and white mech replaced the clamp upon the tube before pulling the shunt from his elbow, he pressed his index finger upon the area until it stopped leaking. He then did the same to where he had placed the shunt on the silver mech before shifting Jazz completely so he was lying upon the floor. The tactician pushed himself up onto his knees and knelt beside the saboteur so he could attend to Jazz's injuries as best as he could. He unsealed packets of clean rags and gently pressed them into the torn open armour on the saboteur's side, then rolled the silver mech onto his side to repeat the same thing to the exit wound. The black and white also made sure that the wound on Jazz's right thigh was also bound after being liberally coated in some antiseptic he managed to locate within his first aid kit.

Once finished with the saboteur's injuries, Prowl sat back and attended to his own although there wasn't much he could do but wrap his left forearm to ensure that it was kept as clean as possible. The tactician sighed deeply through his intakes as he clumsily finished tying the end of the rag in a knot before turning his attention to his energy levels, he removed one of the field rations from subspace and peeled the lid off the small cube. Prowl grimaced when he realised that he did not have any of the small field heating canisters with him, which meant he would have to drink the energon cold. He was tempted not to bother but knew he needed both his battle computer and logic circuits back on-line. The tactician raised the small cube to his lip components and gulped down the entire contents and grimaced at the bitter after taste.

"That was just nasty." Prowl said to no-one in particular, he knew if Jazz had been on-line the silver mech would have laughed himself stupid and made a comment about his behaviour. But as things were, the tactician only had himself for company until the saboteur came out of stasis, that's if he did.

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**A few joors later . . . .**

Returning to the land of the processing was never a fun experience as one always woke from stasis feeling disorientated if not groggy, two sensations Jazz despised the most. The other being cold although what comfused him was the strange burning sensation he could feel in his energon lines, he coudln't understand how he could be hot and cold at the same time. That was until his diagnostics told him that he was suffering from a low grade fever, however his sensors relayed that the temperature around him had dropped. The saboteur wrapped his arms about his frame and shivered before unshuttering and on-lining his optics, his gaze blurred for several astro-seconds then it cleared before he glanced around and felt his spark sink. He was still stuck in that Primus forsaken bunker and still mortally wounded, he also happened to notice that he was alone and wondered whether the tactician had taken his suggestion to mind and left him behind. However the silver mech knew Prowl far too well, the black and white mech would not leave him behind. Not even if it was for a few breems so he could contact their comrades. Jazz stiffly pushed himself up into a sitting position with some difficulty before attempting to extend his sensors, he was immediately met with warnings about some of them being damaged and incapable of performing the task.

"Prowl?" He called out, there was no response and Jazz feared that he really had been left alone until he heard footsteps upon the metal floor and concrete being crushed under foot. The saboteur attempted to swing himself around but his abused body refused to obey to the simplest of his commands, he couldn't even get his weapons system to come on-line in case it turned out not to be the tactician. However a sigh of relief escaped him when he saw the familiar frame of the black and white mech round the wall of debris.

"I'm glad to see you on-line." Prowl greeted him as he knelt down beside him, his optic ridges furrowed into a frown when he noticed how the silver mech had wrapped his arms around himself yet his sensors told him that Jazz's core temperature was still climbing "I was trying to locate a path out of here."

"Don't bother, we're stuck til a search an' rescue party find us." Jazz told him.

The tactician's frown deepened at that "Jazz . . . ." The black and white mech however did not get the chance to finish his sentence.

"Prowl I'm sure your battle computer an' logic circuits are already presentin' our odds to ya already." The saboteur said interrupting the tactician "as to a way out of 'ere, it would have been found by now an' you would be long gone."

"I have already told you, I will not leave you behind." Prowl replied sternly as he reached into his sub-space and retrieved another field ration, he peeled the lid off and offered it to the saboteur. Jazz eyed the pink liquid wandering that if he accepted the fluid, whether his fuel tank would be able to tolerate it since it seemed to be doing those small nauseous churns. He shakily raised his arms and took the energon from the tactician, however with the way his hands were trembling he knew he would lose half its contents before it even reached his mouth. Prowl sensing the silver mech's plights took hold of the cube and he sat beside the saboteur, and helped him steady it as he took a gulp of the cold bitter energon. Jazz grimaced at the horrible after taste and stuck his glossa out which prompted a small chuckle from the tactician "I will have to set a reminder about making sure I have a heating canister with me the next time I step out of the base."

"Urgh definitely that stuff is nasty when not heated up." The saboteur said as he settled back against the wall behind him, dim blue optics settled upon the wall of debris that sat between them and the rest of the room. Prowl placed the small cube of energon upon the floor and covered it back up in case Jazz wanted to finish its contents off a little bit later, several astro-seconds of silence passed between them which extended into breems and for once in his entire existence; Prowl felt uneasy about the silent awkwardness between him and the saboteur. Usually Jazz was the one to make small talk that would end up irritating Prowl to the point where he would tell the silver mech to shut up, now however the sabotuer was choosing to be quiet which unsettled the tactician greatly. He knew there had to be two things plaguing Jazz's mind; one being his impending deactivation when his wearied body could no longer function, and two; his late brother.

Prowl knew it was risky but he decided to tread along the lines of Ricochet's death despite what Jazz's reaction might be "I'm sorry about your brother." The saboteur's head snapped round to glance at him and blue optics flashed, the tactician steeled himself against a rant but instead watched as the silver mech's facial plates dissolved into a sad frown.

"He didn't deserve to die the way he did Prowl, not by a cowardly Decepticreep's hand." The saboteur replied as he felt the conflicted emotions around his sibling's death rampage through his spark, he was still finding it hard to accept that Ricochet was no longer amongst the processing. It just didn't seem right.

"I know Jazz, I know." And truly he did after his own creators had been mericlessly killed in the attack on Praxus, neither had been given a chance to fight for their survival. Only then to have acid rubbed in the already open wound when he discovered that Barricade hadn't been terminated, but defected to the Decepticons. Processor washed by Megatron's propaganda.

"He was all I had." There was a slight hitch in Jazz's voice and Prowl knew that if the silver mech had been back at his quarters in Iacon, he would have cried out his grief by now. The tactician wanted to tell the saboteur that he still had him, but they still needed to resolve that issue between them and now was not the time to do it "I've been such an aft."

"Jazz . . . ." Prowl began but did not continue as he knew better than to interfere when the silver mech was having a rant, he shifted a little closer so his left calf brushed against Jazz's left hip.

"I pushed every one who was ever close to me away, at first it was to teach ya an' th' twins but then . . . ." His sentence trailed off and Prowl felt his spark break at the words leaving the usually upbeat saboteur's vocaliser "there was no excuse for my behaviour toward ya an' the twins an' I regret any and every thing I ever said."

"Jazz, losing one's family is not easy." The tactician began as he stroked the back of his fingers down the silver mech's left forearm in a soothing manner, he half expected Jazz to pull away from the contact but he didn't "and although yes your behaviour was a little excessive, it was completely understandable." The special ops mech met his gaze and gave a small tired smile.

"If I remember correctly ya were a lil short tempered with every one after th' attack on Praxus." Jazz said.

A small smile graced the black and white mech's lip components "I don't think I have ever seen the twins so scared in their life." The saboteur chuckled before a muffled 'cough' escaped him followed by a groan, Prowl glanced at him concerned, worried that something more sinister was at work.

"I'm fine." The silver mech croaked "do me a favour, apologise ta th' twins fer me."

"Jazz we are going to make it out of here alive together." The tactician assured him although he himself was beginning to have doubts about Jazz's conditon "you need to rest, conserve your energy." The saboteur nodded and easily fell into recharge without protest. Prowl watched as the silver mech's entire frame went lax before pushing himself up onto his feet, he sat down beside the saboteur and shifted the 3IC to lie against him. Jazz made no protest at the close proximity, in fact he snuggled in closer in order to warm his chilled plating. Prowl attempted to shift only for a new pain to present itself, a dull ache was beginning to reverberate up his own spinal relays and he wandered whether he had managed to pull some muscle cables.

But decided to push it to the back of his mind for now as he attempted to access his communications systems again. Still he was met with static and the prospect of their comrades finding them and rescuing them was beginning to get further and further away. He wanted them to both get of this together so they could talk things over although once Jazz was significantly recovered The black and white mech wondered whether the saboteur would tell him that what they had was no longer salvagable and would prefer if they remained as friends. Prowl hoped deep within his spark that it wouldn't be the case, but he would respect the saboteur's decision regardless of what it was.

The tactician rested his chin upon the silver mech's helm after making sure the long fins wouldn't jab him in the throat, and was about to enter recharge himself when he heard the shuffling and crunching of concrete as someone stepped on it. Prowl drew his rifle from subspace and gently shifted Jazz so he could get to his feet. He bit back a small moan of pain as the new ache presented itself more in his back, but he tried to ignore it as much as possible as he pressed himself flat against the wall of debris and extended his sensors outward. Initially he was met with nothing and he frowned; something was down here with them. The military strategist peered round the wall only for his gaze to fall upon a gold felinoid creature 'sniffing' around, Prowl felt his fuel pump skip a beat when he recognised the beast transformer to be Steeljaw which meant Blaster couldn't be too far away. He was cautious at first as it could very well be a ruse by the Decepticons to lure him out of hiding in order to capture or terminate him, but the gold felinoid appeared too real to be holographic. That and the reason he might not of have been able to pick up Steeljaw on his scanners, was due to the fact that the gold tracker was fitted with a signal dampener like the rest of the special ops squad.

"Steeljaw." He called, the creature's ears swivelled round in the direction of the voice before blue optics met his own.

"Yo Prowl, ya still swingin' down there man?" A voice inquired from above, the tactician glanced up to see the relieved faces of Blaster and Hound.

"I am still very much alive." The 2IC told the communciations specialist.

"Where's Jazz?" Hound asked, concerned that the chief of special ops hadn't greeted them.

Prowl glanced across to where the silver mech was hidden behind the wall of debris and the direction in which Steeljaw was heading in "Down here with me, but he urgently requires medical attention."

**_"What's that fragger done to himself?" _**Ratchet demanded over the comm. link.

"He has a serious laser burn to his right thigh and a pole speared him through his left side and has exited out of his back very close to his spinal relays." Prowl informed the medic, the 2IC heard the CMO swear vehemently under his breath before ordering the medical personnel to have various bits of equipment prepped and ready to receive a critical patient.

**_"And yourself? Have you sustained any injuries I should be worried about?"_** Ratchet asked a couple of breems later.

"I severely damaged my left forearm and have numerous scrapes and dents but other than that I'm perfectly fine." The tactician replied although he knew he was neglecting telling the CMO about the strange pain in his back but he was more concerned that Jazz was seen to first.

**_"Alright sit tight, the Protectobots are moving in to have the pair of you moved out of there."_** The medic told him before signing off.

Getting them out of there consisted of two teams, one to remain on the surface and keep watch of the ground stability and the climbing equipment whilst the second team abseiled down to them. Prowl was ushered into a harness and strapped to Groove before the Protectobot gave the signal to be lifted. The tacitician had wanted to remain behind and see to it that Jazz was moved out first but it did little to argue against Ratchet. He glanced down in concern when he heard raised voices and panicked screams before it went eerily quiet.

However he had to concentrate his attention upon what was going on above him when the lip of the cavern came into view and several arms reached down to pluck him and Groove out and settle them on the ground. First Aid helped Prowl out of his harness and started guiding him toward the transport which was sat a few clicks away, the tactician glanced around realising that the entire city had been levelled. But his attention was once again drawn away from events happening around him when hot white pain spiked up through his spinal relays doubling him over. He heard First Aid call out to him when he stumbled and collapsed onto his knees, he tried taking in deep intakes of air to help with the unrelenting pain. But it did all of nothing as several warning messages about imminent stasis lock entered his CPU, right before he slipped into blessed unconsciousness.

* * * * * * * * * *

**A/N:** Okay so originally I was going to split this chapter in half when I realised how long it was getting but I decided against it.

And you didn't think Prowl was going to get out of being seriously injured did you? Mwhaha *shrinks back when Prowl muse glares at her*

Any how read & review! and shall see you all in the last chapter!


	4. Making Amends

**Disclaimer**: Not mine, I just toy with them and hand them back in less than pristine condition.

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, you absolutely made my day! ^_^ and therefore, I present this next and final chapter to you (urgh and hasn't it been a pain in the ass to me, I couldn't settle on a way to end it so I decided to go with this one. Not sure it if was the right idea but it's done). I know I also promised it would be up as soon as possible but you won't believe how busy I've been and not had the chance to sit down and write!

I've tried *drops to knees* to sort out the grammatical and spelling errors, but feel free to let me know if there are any.

Orn - day

Joor – hour

Cycle – week

Vorn - year

_'blah' – memory flashback_

* * * * * * * * * *

"_You can't undo anything you've already done, but you can face up to it. You can tell the truth. You can seek forgiveness. And then let God do the rest."- Unknown Author_

It was turning out to be one of those orns where Ratchet wished he hadn't bothered getting out of the recharge berth that morning. Although with the list of patients he had, he knew it would have been unfair for First Aid to deal with them. The orn had started with a rather fragged off looking Ironhide dragging in a pair of rambunctious twins, the pair of them had been dented, scratched and had even sported several scorch marks upon their armoured plating. The weapons specialist had shoved them to a berth and stormed out, leaving the disgruntled Sunstreaker and Sideswipe to Ratchet's tender mercy. It turned out that the pair of them had been fighting in the firing range (Ironhide's 'personal' domain) and the weapons specialist had intervened after finally having enough of their bickering. The CMO had fixed them and sent them on their way, although Ratchet had intentionally forgotten about fixing their paint which would without a doubt; leave Sunstreaker in a foul mood for several joors. He knew it was probably a bad idea given the gold warriors temperament and the rather high percentage that someone (aka Sideswipe if not one of the minibots) was going to rile him up the wrong way.

The chartreuse mech was at this moment waiting for the usual two things to happen that normally occurred on an orn to orn basis (it normally would have been three if Prowl wasn't already in the med-bay). He was anticipating the moment where either Wheeljack blew up his lab, or Red Alert had one of his once an orn fritz out session. However he was hoping for neither of them to cause a problem, including the twins, as he was currently writing up a report upon the status of both Prowl and Jazz.

Ratchet hummed at the two mech's designations. The pair of them had been causing quite a stir amongst the unit stationed at Iacon, every one including himself had feared where to tread after the infamous couple had a disagreement. The CMO had to admit though the saboteur had every right to be angry at his partner for what had happened, after all Prowl had taken a chance to exploit one of Jazz's weaknesses so he could win a bet with the twins. But Ratchet had wondered whether the silver mech had blown it a little out of proportion especially once he involved his special ops unit, although he did wander whether they involved themselves on their own accord. Being the tight knit group that they were. He had dealt with Red Alert and his glitch more times then he dared to count during those several cycles. Not to mention the one incident when Sunstreaker and Jazz were dragged into his repair bay by several mechs, he quickly discovered that the pair of them had gotten into a fist fight over the saboteur proclaiming that he wasn't, as immature as it sounded, speaking to the twins at the moment. Ratchet had been close to bashing their helms together as they exchanged one word offences at each other across the med-bay, before the medic finally booted them out after having enough of their youngling behaviour.

Of course the morale of the unit continued to plummet as the saboteur continued to draw out his feud with Prowl, but the medic had a sneaking feeling that something else was playing on Jazz's behaviour. He had been half tempted to weld the pair of them together, and have them apologise to each other. But he knew that they would only pull rank on him, however he did have enough evidence to have the pair of them suspended from their duties and confined to quarters. However he never got that chance as Optimus assigned them both to the same mission; to locate and provide assistance to Ultra Magnus' unit. The CMO had expressed to Ironhide that he very much doubted Prowl and Jazz would work together. But the black mech had simply patted him on the shoulder and told him that something would come up, and the pair of them would have to pull their heads out of their afts in order to get out of it in one piece. The weapons specialist had no idea how coincidental his remark would be when they received word from Ultra Magnus' group that the saboteur and the tactician had gone MIA during the retreat. Optimus had immediately assigned a search and rescue team instantly in order to locate his second and third command, and once the equipment was packed and stowed upon a transport, they had headed out to their last known co-ordinates.

Ratchet sat back in his seat as he regarded the wall across from him, it had taken them several joors to reach the two stranded officers due to the last pocket of Decepticon resistance. But eventually they had gotten to them and found that they were both alive, if only barely in Jazz's case. The CMO remembered butting in on the conversation between Blaster, Hound and Prowl, and being alerted to their conditions. Then once all the equipment had been set up, he had the chance of seeing their wounds up close and personal. Suspecting that the military strategist had only been minimally damaged, Ratchet had sent him top side with Groove as he focused his efforts on Jazz, who had decided to fight them in his delirious state. However he realised that he should never have trusted his initial judgement nor Prowl's word that he was fine, as it turned out the tactician had a serious spinal strut injury that required him to be strapped to a back board for the rest of the journey home. The CMO had been none to happy to learn that fact from First Aid after Prowl had collapsed from the pain, and decided to chew him out for it once he regained consciousness.

And chew him out he did after the several orns of repairing each of their injuries and keeping a close optic on the low grade infection Jazz had contracted. As usual Prowl had been his normal calm self and apologised for not bringing the issue up when he had been prompted. Ratchet had only deflated once he had informed the tactician about all the gruesome possibilities of what could have happened to his spinal struts and array, just to drive his point home. That had been a few orns ago and the tactician was still in his med-bay slowly recuperating from his injuries and the repairs, usually the black and white mech would try and swindle his way back onto light duty as soon as possible. But this time he seemed more inclined to stay, and the CMO wandered whether it had something to do with his other patient.

Trained keen audios detected slight movement from the main med-bay, Ratchet placed the data-pad and stylus he had been holding and pushed his chair back slightly in order to glance around the doorway and into the large room. His azure gaze immediately fell upon Prowl who had also lowered a data-pad he had been reading and was currently looking toward one of the other berths just out of the medic's sight. The chartreuse mech pushed himself up and out of his seat and stepped out of his office, and into the large room. He glanced at Prowl when the tactician pushed himself up a little bit better on his berth, then followed his gaze to the other berths lined along the walls, Ratchet's gaze fell upon the lithe form of the third in command who was just beginning to come out of stasis. The CMO proceeded across to Jazz's berth and checked the diagnostic readouts upon monitor above his head which indicated that everything looked fine. A groan escaped the silver mech's vocaliser as he attempted to on-line his optics only to be met with the bright lights above him.

"Welcome back to the land of the functioning Jazz." The chartreuse mech greeted the saboteur.

"Urgh what the slag have ya pumped in ta ma systems?" The silver mech demanded as he rested one of his clawed hands upon the crest of his helm, effectively blocking out the light.

"The old good run of the mill pain killers." Ratchet informed him "you'll be fine once they've worn off."

The silver mech focused his gaze back on the ceiling "How long 'ave I been out for?" He glanced back at the chartreuse mech stood beside his berth.

The CMO faltered for a moment. He knew Jazz was one of the few who didn't like being unconscious for long periods of time, and considered his next words carefully "You were nearly out for a whole full cycle."

"I was what?" Jazz demanded as he attempted to push himself up into a sitting position only for the medic to plant a hand none too gently upon the 3IC's right shoulder strut and pushed him back to lying down upon the padded surface of the berth. The saboteur was granted a split second glance of black and white plating before he disappeared from his sight, the silver mech felt his spark pulse faster in its chamber at seeing Prowl alive and well. Good he had a few things he needed to clear and sort out with him.

"I'm not having you placing any further strain upon your systems, so you can calm down." Ratchet told him sternly as he checked the repairs he had made, especially the side injury that had attracted the low grade infection which had taken two orns to clear. The saboteur flinched slightly when the medic prodded the new growth of metallic skin, which happened to be a little lighter than the rest of his plating before covering it back up again with the flexiseal "I'll run a few scans and then I want you back in recharge."

"Ya gotta be slaggin' me, I've been in stasis for a cycle an' ya expect me ta go back in ta recharge?" Jazz asked as he attempted to push himself back up into a sitting position.

"If I knew you were going to be this difficult, I would have left you sedated until I was ready to discharge you." The CMO responded as he pressed a hand against the centre of the saboteur's chest plates and pushed him none too gently back into a lying position again "now stay down and go into recharge like a good mech or I'll put you under." Jazz shot the medic a glare only to receive one in return, he knew better than to argue with the CMO in his domain. The silver mech submitted to the scans before shutting down into recharge as instructed. The chartreuse mech made sure that the head of special ops had completely shut down before stepping back and away from Jazz's berth "I swear he gives me more trouble then you." He pointed those words at the only other occupant in the room, he met Prowl's cool calculating glance with his own stern one before making his way back to his office.

The tactician watched as the medic disappeared into the recesses of his office before turning his gaze upon the silver mech, glad to finally see him regain awareness. He could honestly say it had been touch and go for the past few orns, and he was concerned that the damage that Jazz had sustained had been too much for the saboteur to cope with. But the head of special ops had pulled through, a fact he was most glad for as he and the silver mech still had a few issues they needed to sort out between them. He knew Jazz had every chance at revoking everything he had said simply because he was no longer faced with possibility of going off-line. However he knew within his spark that everything the saboteur had said had been sincere and meant which opened the possibility that maybe not all was lost between them.

The black and white mech was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard a string of curses from the office directly across from him before there was movement from Ratchet's office. He glanced up in time to see the chartreuse mech to step out of the small adjoining room and grumble something about reformatting a pair of twin warriors and a certain security director, the tactician watched as he gathered a medical kit from one of the storage closets before storming out of the med-bay. Although not before shooting the black and white with a glare, that threatened him to remain where he was or risk getting welded to the berth he was currently occupying. Prowl had no intention of leaving the repair bay any time soon, although normally he would have tried to escape the confines of the room and wheedle his way back onto light duty. The tactician returned his attention back to the data-pad in his hand when he heard movement from the right side of him, he glanced over to where Jazz was to find that the silver mech's optics were un-shuttered and brightly lit.

"I believe Ratchet gave the order that you were to go back into recharge." The military strategist said as he placed his data-pad down upon the surface of the berth and settled his gaze fully upon the saboteur.

"Doesn't mean I have to listen to it." Jazz responded as he pushed himself up onto his elbows only to moan softly when his healing injuries protested against the movement.

Prowl sighed through his intakes hoping the saboteur wasn't going to do anything rash "You can be as stubborn as they come."

"Says you." The silver mech responded as he pulled himself up fully into a sitting position "how come you've not busted out of here yet?"

"Because you and I need to talk." Prowl stated succinctly. The saboteur glanced at the wall opposite him, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. He knew he still loved Prowl with all his spark but the tactician's 'abuse' of his trust made him wonder whether he could trust the black and white mech again. The silver mech knew what his older brother's opinion upon the situation would be, but Ricochet was no longer amongst the processing; a fact that made his spark clench painfully in its chamber. The tactician noticed the small sad frown appearing upon the saboteur's facial plates and he felt his fuel pump skip a beat in apprehension "Jazz?" The black and white dared to call the silver mech's designation, and was rewarded by Jazz's azure gaze landing upon him.

"I'm thinking." The head of special ops told him.

"Be careful you don't strain something in the process." Prowl said jokingly, only to realise that maybe he had pulled the wrong move and Jazz might snap at him instead. He was about to apologise when the once genuine and easy going smile appeared upon the saboteur's lip components, the tactician felt his spark flutter at the sight.

"If I had the energy, I'd kick your cute aft for that." Jazz responded as his shoulders slumped in exhaustion. Now he understood why Ratchet wanted him back in recharge, but he feared that once he did, he would on-line again and miss his opportunity to talk to Prowl.

The military strategist looked at him in concern "Want me to call Ratchet back?"

"No he'll only see it as an excuse ta weld me to the berth or sedate me again." The special ops officer replied as he glanced down at the healing side injury, he picked at the edges of the flexiseal that covered it whilst the new metal skin regenerated. Morbid curiosity as to how close he came to being terminated by the injury crossed his CPU, he had figured he had been a dead mech back in the bunker considering his injuries. But it seemed that the Allspark wasn't beckoning him home that day and allowed him to live to fight another day. And just may be make amends with those that he had dissolved relationships and friendships with, which reminded him "why did you do what you did?"

Prowl glanced up from the data-pad he had picked up again and stared at the opposite wall, he wondered at first what the saboteur could be referring to only to realise that may be he was being given his opportunity to explain himself "I didn't set out to hurt you. I knew how hectic things were becoming back then with the work load and the missions not meeting their requirements." His gaze met that of Jazz's "I saw how it was beginning to affect you orn in and orn out to the point you looked ready to snap."

A sigh escaped the silver mech, he knew all that too be true, in-between the work load that seemed to have doubled over night was simply not helping when mission briefings didn't go the way he wanted them too. Some of them came back with holes big enough that Optimus could fit through them, which would without a doubt end in either failure or the operative being captured or worse; killed.

"I also failed you in not being there to provide the support you so desperately needed, and the bet with the twins? I should never have agreed to it, it was pathetically immature of me." Jazz looked at the tactician somewhat bewildered at the words leaving the black and white's vocaliser, he opened his mouth plates intending to say a few words only for Prowl to hold up his hand; halting him "Jazz if I had not taken that bet, I would not have lost your trust and friendship . . . ." He met the silver mech's gaze fully ". . . . I would not have lost the mech I considered as my soul mate."

The special ops mech found his processors grind to a halt as he flailed for an answer "Prowl I . . . ." He cursed himself vehemently internally as he struggled to find the words in order to respond. The saboteur was also having trouble processing that Prowl had seen him as his soul mate, something that was a rare find on Cybertron let alone in the midst of a war. The saboteur was brought out of his brief musing when he heard movement and was surprised to see the tactician slid off his berth, then unsteadily make his way toward him. Jazz reached out to him when he stumbled slightly only to hiss in pain when it pulled upon his own injuries.

"Jazz all I ask is for your forgiveness." The tactician said meeting the silver mech's gaze fully and held onto a single clawed hand "and I respect any decision you make baring our relationship."

The special ops mech was still having trouble finding the right words and knew he had to say something soon or he would lose the opportunity. But frag if his processor was being a complete slagtard and refusing to co-operate with him. He opened his mouth plates to say anything but promptly shut them again when nothing became to mind, he was slowly beginning to blame the pain killers that had been pumped into his systems for making his thought processes retarded.

_'Now what's this? Someone's shut up the infamous Jazz? How's that possible?' _He suddenly heard his brother's voice in his head. Jazz began to suspect his sanity was slipping especially if he was hearing his deceased brother's voice in his head, he was seriously thinking about finding some sort of stimulant in order to get rid of the groggy feeling sweeping through his entire frame. That was the number one reason why he hated prolonged stays in the med-bay, Ratchet had the tendency to drug him up to the optics in order to make sure he didn't rush off to do something rash.

The saboteur tore his optics from the black and white mech refusing to meet his gaze, he needed to collect his thoughts before he said anything that he might regret "Prowl I'm sorry."

The tactician's shoulder slumped and the elegant sensory panels drooped to the point when they were almost laid flat against his back "I . . . understand." His spark clenched painfully in his chest, he had tried his hardest to get the saboteur to forgive him but it just seemed in the end, that it wasn't good enough.

"That's not what I mean." Jazz reassured him with a small smile. He watched as a small surprised look appeared upon the tactician's facial plates, the elegant sensory panels flicker before slowly rising up on Prowl's back "I forgive you but . . . I don't know if I can trust you again."

For a second time in the past few breems, Prowl's sensory panels drooped at the final words leaving the saboteur's vocaliser. The black and white mech recalled how challenging it had been the last time to get the saboteur's trust the first time round, and despaired at the thought of having to do it all over again. Prowl had quickly found that special ops bots were one of the hardest in the unit to earn the trust of. He had successfully earned his after countless vorns by performing to the best of his abilities in order to get Jazz and his agents home after each of their missions. But now he had lost it, vorns of hard work gone to waste through one reckless stunt, and here he was faced with the painstaking work of earning it once again.

"I understand." Prowl replied. He didn't want to but what other choice did he have besides down right begging?

Jazz sighed through his intakes "Prowler I want us to be together again but I gotta know that ya won't do somethin' as reckless like that again." The silver mech slumped in on himself slightly as his entire frame was starting to become weary from just sitting up, several warnings started appearing upon his HUD and he knew he didn't have much time "can ya promise me that one thing?"

"If only the favour is returned." The tactician replied meeting Jazz's gaze fully "your behaviour in the last battle was questionable, but I am willing to ignore those transgressions as desperation to find out what had happened to Ricochet." Prowl knew he was treading upon dangerous ground but he was willing to risk it "and I know that if I had been in your position, I'd probably done the same."

"Probably." The silver mech said "but ya know trust is earned and not given?"

"A lesson I believe you taught me, and Jazz I am willing to do anything in order to get that trust back." The tactician replied, he gave the clawed hand he was holding a gentle squeeze.

A small tired smile made its way onto Jazz's lip components "I know ya will." The black and white mech noticed immediately how the saboteur's entire frame seem to slump in on itself, he knew he would have to get Jazz back into recharge before Ratchet returned.

"You should go back into recharge." Prowl told the silver mech as he rested one hand upon the side of the saboteur's helm, Jazz smiled at him tiredly.

"Only if you rest with me." The special ops officer replied, the tactician gave a small smile before pulling himself up onto the berth next to the silver mech. He saw Jazz scan him critically checking him over after he saw the black and white mech winced, but Prowl reassured him that he was fine. The black and white mech was more than a little surprised when the saboteur shuffled up as close as he possibly could and cuddled in close to warm armour. Prowl was a little unsure of what to make of the contact as jazz hadn't exactly stated whether they were to remain as friends or could pick up where they left up, but none the less wrapped his arms about the silver mech's shoulders. He felt Jazz hum in contentment against his chest plate and glanced down to see dim blue optics glancing up at him "I'm beginnin' ta understand the reasonin' for what ya did."

The tactician shifted uncomfortably when his back protested from being sat up too long "I could have found another way of helping you get over your phobia of heights."

"Maybe." The silver mech mumbled "which reminds me, it's your turn now."

Prowl frowned at that "For what?"

"Ta face one of ya fears." Jazz replied.

"I'm not afraid of anything." The tactician told him.

"Liar, I know exactly what ya afraid of." The saboteur responded as he shuttered and powered down his optics "an' I know exactly where the little critters are, so we can pay them a visit."

Prowl's sensory panels twitched at the thought of what the silver mech was suggesting, and decided to finish this conversation quickly "Recharge Jazz." The black and white mech got no response from the mech and knew instantly that he had finally slipped into recharge. He shuffled himself further down on the berth and laid down upon his back muffling the ache that had started in his still healing spinal struts, then pulled Jazz close. The silver mech muttered something as he snuggled closer but quickly fell back into the deep recesses of recharge. The tactician stayed online just a little while longer, simply observing Jazz in his sleep before his own body demanded the rest it needed to heal, and he too headed into recharge.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ratchet made his way back to the med-bay with a pair of front-line warriors following in his footsteps. Both were quiet verbally but their bond was active with a conversation that ranged from different things, until Sunstreaker discovered that his twin had once again made a bet that would dictate their actions and behaviour for the next seven orns. The CMO glared at him when he heard the distinct sound of one of them clenching his fist in anger.

"You two start a fight and I will not repair anything you break, scratch or dent." He told the pair of them, the twins glared at one another before turning their attention to the set of doors that would take them into the med-bay. Sideswipe especially wanted to see whether Prowl and Jazz had made up or were currently in the process of mangling each other. The red front-line warrior knew that there was a 50/50 chance of whether this situation was going to resolve itself especially now that Jazz's thought processes weren't being swayed by his brother's death, Sunstreaker had been a little bit bitter about making amends with the saboteur after what had happened but Sideswipe had managed to bring him around. They were hoping that if the saboteur was able to forgive the tactician then just may be there was hope for them, however there was no way of knowing until they stepped into the med-bay.

Ratchet palmed the keypad on the wall and the doors whooshed open to rather quiet reapir bay, he glanced around the room suspiciously at first until his optics fell upon two frames huddled up on a single berth; Jazz's berth to be exact. Prowl was lying upon his back, both arms wrapped around the saboteur's shoulders holding him close whilst the silver mech was snuggled into his side; the pair of them were deep in recharge. The CMO's expression softened when he saw them together and knew instantly that the pair had managed to settle things between them.

"Looks like you both owe me a cycle of inventory and cleaning duty." The medic said as he glanced at them over his shoulder with a smirk, Sunstreaker instantly shot his brother a dark glare that promised some ounce of pain.

"You and you stupid slaggin' bets, you knew they would make up." The gold front-liner snapped at his twin, Sideswipe cringed at the infliction in the tone of his brother's voice. He seriously needed to stop making bets with bots and subsequently losing them, but where was the fun in that if he didn't? After all it was only a cycle and he had the opportunity to wind Ratchet up as much as possible, well that was if he could survive the next orn as his brother was currently shooting him dark glares.

"You wanna dismantle him take it somewhere else." The medic told the gold front-liner. Sunstreaker growled at the back of his throat and curled his other hand into a fist, Sideswipe grinned sheepishly at his brother before taking off with his brother hot on his heels.

Ratchet watched the pair of them leave before stepping into the med-bay, and just before the doors slid shut he heard the distinct sound of Ironhide hollering for the red front-liner's head to be brought to him on a pike. The medic shook his head and sighed, without a doubt he would see the red hellion in his med-bay in a couple of joors after the weapons specialist and the gold front-liner had finished handing him in his aft. With that thought in mind he decided to finish off what reports he had before the sanctity of his domain was disturbed. The chartreuse mech quickly checked his two patients over before heading into his office, he sat down in his chair and leant back as a small smile graced his lip components. At least now things might return to normal now that amends had been made between Prowl and Jazz.

* * * * * * * * * *

_**A/N: **Jazz and Prowl refused to co-operate with me in this chapter (dam fraggers!) but I hoped it played out alright. There were two ways of ending this but I decided to allow Prowl and Jazz to settle their dispute as there is nothing worse than living day by day knowing someone hates you. Anyway A big thank you to those who have followed me through this multi-chapter, you all have been a few in a million especially with waiting for my to update this. And now I can concentrate on Renascentia, people probably wandering what's happening with that one. I may or may not consider an epilogue but who knows._

_Read and Review_


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